The Big Sky has been threatening rain, and I hope the mountains have been intercepting some, but the valley is dry. Two Deer charged down the hill together and thundered across the Dry Bridge about an hour before sunset.

(From SPACE.com 01 August 2008)
ABOARD A JET ABOVE THE ARCTIC OCEAN – 36,000-feet above the Arctic Ocean at a point between the uninhabited northern coast of Greenland and the Norwegian island group of Svalbard...onboard an LTU Airbus A330-200 long-range jet, racing the ... the moon's 139-mile wide shadow.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Manchester, UK; Jamaica, New York; Berlin, Germany (GoBama!); Somewhere, Japan; Phoenix, Arizona; Nesbit, Mississippi; Vittorio Veneto, Italy and Picayune, Mississippi.

ROCK against Reaganomics at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's first illustrator of the 21st, for his recommendations -- HERE!

Charity Alert: Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art is sending me off to Sidney, Montana next weekend at the far East end of Montana, and then I'll haul an art show westward to Lewistown, near the center of the state. Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
Check out Fall for Glacier -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Media Watch: I'm guilty of seeing Lady GaGa's network debut on So You Think You Can Dance? Her name is Stefani Germanotta, hailing from New York City -- she sang strongly, and moved well enough to sell her number on a show devoted to dancing. I enjoy seeing young professionals making their mark.
From her website: I did this the way you are supposed to. I played every club in New York City and I bombed in every club and then killed it in every club and I found myself as an artist. I learned how to survive as an artist, get real, and how to fail and then figure out who I was as singer and performer ... I worked hard...and now, I’m just trying to change the world one sequin at a time.

A mash-up from self-declared exhibitionist Lady GaGa's intro to the TV public -- besides her oversized straight-haired white wig, she wore an outfit cut high above her hipbones, and used a headset mic which also shone a rectangular flourescent bluish-purple light on her mouth throughout the whole number. At the begining she sported a pair of high-tech specs which displayed her stage name -- the singing and dancing were excellent, and she wrote the song as well!

Real Books: More From Hollywood by DeWitt Bordeen -- a collection of short biographies, including one about Alla Nazimova and another about her nephew Val Lewton. This author was also the writer of Cat People and knew them both, so his personal perspective was interesting. Nazimova's comment "Val couldn't afford me," could only come from a private conversation. Lewton was as respected a filmmaker as Robert Wise among his peers, but he slaved for tyrants like David O. Selznik, Charles Koerner, and Dore Schary -- working himself into an early grave.
Nazimova was a first-rate stage actor whose talent was only shown on the screen in supporting roles when talkies blossomed late in her career. Yes, she was a prima donna in her private life, but gave much to the theater-going public, like Eleonora Duse did in Europe, plus introduced the roots of Stanislavsky's Method to America. They both followed the leadership of Sarah Bernhardt in running their own careers with style. I daresay Ida Rubinstein, High Patroness of this blog, wanted to rival and even exceed Nazimova's accomplishments, but made choices which took her career in other, though somewhat parallel, directions. The irony is that these larger-than-life personalities are almost equally forgotten.

Alla Nazimova as Salome in her big-budget flop from 1922 -- supposedly inspired by Beardsley's designs for Oscar Wilde's play. Rita Hayworth couldn't save a remake after WWII, and Ken Russell's attempt at the story largely failed too, so she's in good cinematic company. Ida Rubinstein crashed the theatrical gates for herself with this same role in Belle Epoch Paris with better luck, but in a much different society. Her reprise of Salome, just before WWI, with Wilde's original French dialogue, was somewhat anticlimactic. Read more in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Let's get a little rain, there are too many wildfires starting up around the state. A couple of spotty fawns greeted me in a driveway at Dry Bridge Slough the other day.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Granada Hills, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Louth, Ireland (Is that Roseanne or Rachelle? Eavan was touring with Footsbarn); San Antonio, Texas; Key West, Florida; Westwood, Massachusetts; Short Hills, New Jersey; Cambridge, Massachusetts; San Clemente, California; Missoula, Montana; De Forest, Wisconsin; Nieuwe Pekela, in Northern Holland; Texarkana, Texas; Walla Walla, Washington and San Francisco, California.

ROCK against Reaganomics at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's first illustrator of the 21st, for his recommendations -- HERE!

Charity Alert: Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art is sending me off to Sidney, Montana next weekend in order to transport Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road to Lewistown, near the center of the state. We are still showing Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
Check out Fall for Glacier -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Concert Reviews:

George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars in Chicago July 26, 2008

In Funky Heaven By ItsMrLucky
If I can’t be on stage doing a show on a Saturday night the only other place I’d rather be is at a George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic show. Tonight the P-Funk played at the Cubby Bear nightclub across from Wrigley Field and it was nothing less than funktacular.
I tried to count how many times I’ve seen them live and I can’t. It might be 30. It might be 40. It might be more. Any time I have a chance to catch George and the boys live I will always do it. They rarely disappoint. Some shows are better than others depending on lots of variables but tonight it was all systems go and the Mothership was flying at full speed.
This was a fantastic night on many levels. I contacted James Wesley Jackson who used to open for the band back in the 70s. He had some kind of a falling out like many of them did and it wasn’t really my business so I didn’t pursue it as I got to know James. I think it may have had to do with money but a lot of the band members have had those squabbles.
Again, that’s no business of mine. I know how hard it is keeping MY money in line so I can’t start pointing fingers at George for how he deals with it. There are a lot of people in the band and I have no idea how everyone gets paid. All I care about is hearing the funk.
I had always known James opened for them and as I got to know him better I found him to be just a wonderful soul. What a laid back nice guy he is and I consider him a friend on several levels. We’re both comedians and worked together many times and we’re both on the same page when it comes to loving the P-Funk. We just hit it off right from the start.
I’ve been asking James to come with me to a show for several years now. I would love to see him not only patch up whatever needs to be patched but also have him open up for them again. I know he loved it and who wouldn’t? The gigs might not have been the best because of the circumstances but I’m sure it was fun touring and having fun on the road.
I contacted James this week and he was off tonight and said he’d love to come. I sent an email to George’s manager who I met in Houston last year. She’s very nice and said she’d leave two tickets for us at the will call window. James and I were supposed to meet at 9.
When I got there right at 9:00 I didn’t see James anywhere. I called his cell phone and it went to voice mail so I wasn’t sure what happened. I stood in a long line that got a whole lot longer as people showed up from every direction. This was going to be a full house.

As I stood in line I noticed Pedro Bell standing on the sidewalk. He’s the artist that did most of the cartoon illustration cover art on a lot of George’s biggest albums and he lives in Chicago. His art style is very familiar to anyone who is a fan of the funk and I sure am.
I’ve been trying to track him down for years so he can hopefully do the cover art for my CD. Nobody else would know how cool that is but anyone who is a P-Funk fan would get it right away. I tried to have the artist for my first CD shoot for that style but he missed it.
I walked up to him and asked if he was Pedro Bell and he said yes. I told him I loved his work and named a few of my favorite covers he did and his eyes just about popped out of his head. He was shocked that I knew who he was and we talked for a few minutes and he is very sharp mentally. He’d been sick for a while and nobody knew if he was still alive.
James knew him but said he lost track of Pedro when I asked James to help me find him so I could get him to do my CD artwork. Tonight I found him and we exchanged business cards and I asked him if he’d do my cover and he said he would. I have no idea what he is going to charge me but whatever it is I’ll pay it if I have to sell my hair, lungs and sperm.
How cool would it be to have a Pedro Bell CD cover? I don’t care if nobody else knows who he is, I do and I’d love it. The fans would get it and that’s all I’d care about. The rest of the people will just think I hired some wacky cartoonist to do my artwork. That’s fine.

As I talked with Pedro I got a call from James who was already inside. He had spotted a few people he knew and they got him in and then he came outside and found us and all of us went to the stage entrance and got in that way. That’s the first time I’d ever done that. James thanked me up and down for coaxing him to show up because he was greeted by the band very warmly and they made him feel welcome. I could see how glad they were to see him and it made me feel great that I had something to do with that. James is part of an era when they were one of the biggest bands in the world and he deserves to get his props.
He told me they loved seeing him and they were thinking of a way to get him back with the show. He was floating on air and I was too just hearing it. He said ‘And YOU are the one who made it happen.’ I don’t know if I made it happen but I did suggest he show up.
While I was talking to Pedro James was meeting up with his friends in the band. He did get some time with George and George made it a point to ask how I was and he saw what I wrote when I covered the show they did in Milwaukee. He loved it. I loved hearing it.

To have all this happen in one night is a feeling if pure electricity. James was in heaven and so was I. I’d never really been backstage before and I got to see the show from a new perspective. I stood next to James and we just grooved our asses off. George comes out at about an hour into the show and we were standing right next to where his path would be.
The band was even hotter than usual tonight and then it was time for George to show up and crank it up even higher. He walked right past us and gave us both a look and a nod of recognition. I could tell he knew who I was because I was standing right next to James.
James turned to me and said ‘He knew it was you’ and that made my whole night. I saw it in his eye and I nodded back and he went out to the stage and the place went nuts. He’s got so much presence and energy even though he’s in his late 60’s. I was amazed as I saw the band take it even higher and they ripped through some old obscure songs that made all of us hardcore old time fans happy. This whole experience was one of my very best ever.

Cityboy Wrote: Best Cubby Bear show ever....best show for the Mob in Chicago in quite a while.
Highlights -
Stuffs and Thangs - stretched out
Maggot Brain to a reggae beat - no shit, people actually dancing to Maggot Brain - insane!
Old school Funkadelic - damn near the whole Funkadelic self-titled album! Full length album version of "I'll Bet You"
Unfunky UFO
Me and My Folks, You and Your Folks
Great mixed crowd, packed house. Good to see Kid Funkadelic and Kendra Foster back on stage. Two new ladies as well, added nicely to the mix.

Free digital mix -- Click for a larger image:
(L to R) My friend Greg Boyer (trombone) visiting the Funk Mob in Winston/Salem N.C; George Clinton, Atomic Dawg Dancers, Kim Manning, and Garry Shider from Chicago and London.

Royal Festival Hall, London June 21, 2008
Bear Wrote: A great show in London last night. Some observations:
It was a sell out and at £35 per ticket the most I've paid to see P Funk in London. A completely different crowd to Hammersmith, Brixton, Kentish Town, Ocean etc. And let's say they were of the "more experienced" generations. Where did they all come from and why don't they go to the other venues - where the crowds were much younger, but didn't sell out.
The band was tight, but Greg (Thomas) was the only one on horns. Frankie played drums all night, no Steve Boyd. I think I heard Clip, but only to introduce the players. Lots of jamming, which was fantastic at times, Mr Curry seemed to be enjoying it - the happiest I've seen him on stage. Michael Hampton looked a bit shambolic, (looks like his knees must be killing him) but played the best I've seen him. 2 new guitar players were great. Did miss Byrd and with him I was also left thinking that the balance of P Funk has really changed again and without recording the stage band really loses some identity in my view.
Great to hear some old funkadelic in the set list. I love Funkentelechy (never been mad keen on Bop Gun), but the set list does feel like they've been doing some parts for years now without much variation.
George brought it all together and the crowd were on their feet from his arrival onwards, but he spent the shortest amount of time on stage that I've seen. Guess he's getting on a bit!

Continuing beautiful Summer days, with cooling breezes all week long -- couldn't have better weather for Arts In The Park.

Fabric artist Ami Davis welcomes a customer to her booth at Arts In The Park on Saturday, July 26, 2008.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from South Dartmouth, Massachusetts; Washington, DC; Jamaica, New York; Athens, Greece; Warsaw, Poland; Lake Forest, Illinois; Saint Louis, Missouri; Victoria, British Columbia; Norwalk, Wisconsin; Andalusia, Alabama; Englewood, Ohio; Humble, Texas; Debelec, Bulgaria; Wayne, Pennsylvania; Nottingham, England (Yes, there was a Robin Hood); Enfield, Connecticut; Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran; Hanover Park, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; Cambridge, Massachusetts; El Paso, Texas; Portland, Maine; Louth, Ireland; Kugluktuk, Nunavut (Canada); Winnipeg, Manitoba; Jamaica, New York (Yo, Stozo!); Madison, Wisconsin (Mad Town USA) and Visakhapatnam, India.

ROCK against Reaganomics at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's first illustrator of the 21st, for his recommendations -- HERE!

Charity Alert: Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art celebrated its 40th Arts In The Park last weekend. We are still showing Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
Also -- Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
Check out Fall for Glacier -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Media Watch: The judges saved a VERY deserving squad of dancers on America's Best Dance Crew II last week. We are thinking of seeing the tour in Portland, Oregon this Fall -- JabbaWokeeZ and Break Sk8 are featured, and I hope Status Quo from Boston are too.

I saw the low LOW LOW Brow comedy Dick on the satellite/cable -- Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams played two ridiculous characatures of teenage girls who managed to bring down Dick (Dan Hedaya) Nixon for being mean to his dog Checkers. Deep Throat referred to Dunst's stoner brother, who was caught going to a porn movie. Williams sang Olivia Newton-John's I Honestly Love You onto one of Dick's tapes, which he erased right away, probably for 18 minutes. ("A 15 year old -- they'll CRUCIFY me!).
Anyway, it was exuberant and totally goofy. The halter-top costumes at the end were a bit sexist, but the two young women looked so damn funny unfurling their banner saying YOU SUCK etc as Nixon flew away from the White House. They got "the finger" in return from the befuddled ex-president, but he was stymied and knew it.

I made these drawings of White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen (moaning) and Gerald Ford (laughing) thirty-four years ago when the REAL Dick Nixon gave his resignation speech. I was listening to the radio in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and they played Keep On Smilin' by Wet Willie afterwards. We had a heck of a barbecue later that night!

Beautiful Kirsten Dunst later became VERY famous playing the female lead in Sam Raimi's excellent Spiderman movies. What else might be going on in Comic Book Land?

Batman, Dark Knight is still riding high at the box office -- a dead actor just might get the Oscar this year for playing The Joker, and the putative hero might go to court for a domestic disturbance.